It is 2012 and you would have thought that the treatment of women would be the same as men, right? Well some stories in the news have surprised me and made me think we are not living in 2012 at all. Not sure what year we are in, but the view of women is that we are controlled by hormones, we obviously cannot make a decision that is not controlled by our menstrual cycle and of course we have powerful ways of not getting pregnant if we were ever raped – legitimate rape or not? How can rape ever be legitimate? It is a terrible violent crime against women.
So who has sparked all this nonsense? Well in regards to the hormone remark it was a story from CNN that was eventually pulled due to comments and feedback from the public. I can imagine that this feedback was more like outrage. The story was stating that hormones effect how female voters vote in elections, I say what a lot of rot. Why is it that men are not put in a study to find out this answer also? Why is it that it all goes back to the fact that we menstruate and that seems to affect all other things! I am speaking for us all here, Bleeding each month does not influence my decisions on politics, my job, life, friends, and what I would like to do, also when I get annoyed or angry about something it is not due to my period – it is just that I am annoyed and angry about whatever is making me annoyed. Maybe we should question if a penis gets in the way of men making important decisions? I am sure they would not appreciate this line of questioning, like we don’t like what they are saying and inferring about us.
The article was based on some research by Kristina Durante from the University of Texas, see below quote:
“The researchers found that during the fertile time of the month, when levels of the hormone estrogen are high, single women appeared more likely to vote for Obama and committed women appeared more likely to vote for Romney, by a margin of at least 20 percent,” Kristina Durante of the University of Texas told CNN of her work. “This seems to be the driver behind the researchers’ overall observation that single women were inclined toward Obama and committed women leaned toward Romney,” the network reported.( http://rt.com/usa/news/cnn-story-study-vote-252/)
Another quote below that I agree with.
“Susan Carroll, a professor of political science and women’s and gender studies at Rutgers University, told Jezebel.com that she had her doubts though about the alleged legitimacy of the study. “There is absolutely no reason to expect that women’s hormones affect how they vote any more than there is a reason to suggest that variations in testosterone levels are responsible for variations in the debate performances of Obama and Romney,” they(CNN) quoted her as saying.”( http://rt.com/usa/news/cnn-story-study-vote-252/)
Some other discoveries from this research was that:
“the most controversial part of the study is not only that hormonal cycles are linked to women’s preferences for candidates and voting behaviors, but also that single women who are ovulating are more likely to be socially liberal.” Why is this information important, how would they try and find out if I or any other woman is ovulating? Why do these people want or need to know this information? Would they ask a man if they had sex or something else?
“When women are ovulating, they ‘feel sexier,’ and therefore lean more toward liberal attitudes on abortion and marriage equality” (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/25/cnn-scratches-womens-hormones-voting-choices_n_2015652.html)
So now we have discussed hormones and the stupid idea that they linked to our voting decisions now to politicians and their stupid thoughts on rape.
Todd Akin a Republican candidate for the Senate in Missouri has really put his foot in it. I am the type of person that believes if he said it he must believe it. Suddenly stating that he used words in the wrong way is going to be believed. Suddenly claiming that is wrong and saying sorry does not work for me. Who says that some rape is legitimate? All rape is wrong and never legitimate. So what did Todd Akin do?
According to Todd Akin, women who get raped have a mysterious way to avoid getting pregnant. Not sure what this magical skill is, but Mr Akin, if the sperm meets the egg and it is the right time for this to occur, it does not matter if it is via sex in a loving relationship or the act of rape. The woman will get pregnant if the situation is right for this to occur. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down,” Mr Akin said. (http://www.smh.com.au/world/offensive-and-indefensible-candidate-may-step-down-after-legitimate-rape-claims-20120821-24j3d.html#ixzz2AM1fw7wo)
“At a news conference on Monday, President Barack Obama joined in the condemnation of Mr Akin’s remark:
“Rape is rape, and the idea that we should be parsing and qualifying and slicing what types of rape we are talking about doesn’t make sense to the American people and certainly doesn’t make sense to me,” Mr Obama said. He said Mr Akin’s comments showed “why we shouldn’t have a bunch of politicians, a majority of whom are men, making healthcare decisions on behalf of women”.(http://www.smh.com.au/world/republicans-set-antiabortion-stance-as-romney-urges-akin-to-step-aside-20120822-24l86.html)
I agree whole heartily Mr Obama, well said and good on you.
Not only has Todd Akin caused a stir with his views, Richard Mourdock another Republican candidate has given it a go as well. Mr Mourdock has stated that if a rape ends with pregnancy then “It’s something that god intended”. (http://www.smh.com.au/world/romney-dragged-into-the-abortion-debate-20121025-2889n.html)
As you can imagine Mitt Romney has asked Todd Akin to step down, and the Republicans are distancing themselves from Richard Mourdock due to his remarks. So as you can see, this cannot be 2012 we are living in, maybe it is the early 19th century, or the 1950’s? Not sure exactly but it is such an archaic and terrible view of women.
No matter your view on abortion, I think it is up to the individual and you choose what is right for you and your family. I do understand that some people don’t believe in it at all, and that is fine. I for one would like to know that the choice is there for all. It is a free society and the choice is there for a reason. I for one would not want to have a child out of rape. Maybe these men might feel differently if it was their wife or child that this happened to. Hang on maybe my decision here is just down to hormones? I might change my mind. (No way, no chance of that happening!!!)
It is scary that people in areas of power have such a dim view of women. As stated if the tables were turned, I am sure men would not stand for such talk about them. Women have come a long way, but I am amazed that people actually believe that women are controlled by their hormones on everything and of course in case of rape, if we get pregnant it is gods will and we should be happy to bring new life into the world. (I don’t think so!)
I would personally vote for Obama and that is not my hormones talking. I have weighed up what others are saying and doing and he seems much more balanced to me.
So I ask you would you vote for these people? I for one would not! Do you have an idea of what year we are actually living in with comments like this? Maybe the next news story will be saying that women are witches? Or if the woman floats she is a witch? What other story do you foresee happening with opinions like the above? Send in your comments.